Kris's 3D Animation Blog

Author: Kris Harwood

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Immersion Term 1

Week 7: Immersion

Project Progression:

In Maya, I posed some of the ‘Body Mechanics Rigs‘ (created by Joe Daniels) in the subway train. I then imported these into UE5 so I could set up the cameras there, and export the cameras back into Maya for animating. While convoluted, I found setting up the cameras in Maya less intuitive than in UE5, and I think overall I saved time as setting them up in UE5 was quick and easy when also using my storyboard sketches as reference.

I then set up each key shot (the shots I consider necessary to convey my project idea) in Maya with the Apollo rig referenced in. I had already deform wrapped the clothes to the skin of the rig and hidden the faces beneath the clothes, and saved this as a separate scene to be referenced in.

Before I got ahead of myself, I wanted to test the pipeline I had planed out to import the animation into UE5. From previous research, I decide to export the rig geometry as an alembic. I did a very rough animation for shot 0070, and exported this for the test. However for the materials on the rig, I misunderstood how these would transfer in and found that while the materials did import, they all showed as black. I put this aside to fix later, and I was then able to set up the alembic in the sequencer and see that, other than the materials, the alembic import would work as I planned.

For the materials it was a little convoluted but again, would save time later, to recreate all the materials in UE5, make sure the names of the UE5 materials matched the Shading Group node of the materials in Maya, and (while I couldn’t 100% confirm this was necessary, it works as desired) assigned the materials to the geometry faces rather than the object as a whole. I also had to make sure to assign the hidden faces a unique material that, in UE5, was transparent or “invisible”.

While I was already planning on switching out the subway train materials for my own, seeing the Apollo rig in the level gives me an even bigger urge to do so, as the contrast between realism and stylised stands out far too much to me.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Animation Term 1

Week 6: Animation

This week we received feedback on our blocking animation of the side step, and learnt how to animate a walk cycle.

We will be using the Walker rig (a ball with legs) for the walk cycle so we can focus on the leading actions, and the follow-through effects of these on the rest of the lower body without worrying about the upper body for now.

Side Step Blocking Feedback:

Along with the animation plan, reference, and blocking, we were asked to take 3 pose sketches we’ve done this semester and pose the Bony using the sketches as reference. While doing this, we were asked to pay close attention to the weight distribution and balance. (George’s feedback shown as the sketches on top of uploaded images)

I noticed with all three poses I didn’t push the arcs enough, even when both the reference image and my sketches did so in the case of the middle image. With the left image, I think I focused too heavily on matching the pose and not enough on pushing the arcs and balancing the weight distribution, which made me completely miss how far back the dancer is on his grounded foot. For the right image, I missed how far forward the woman’s weight is in relation to her feet and, slightly so, her hips. I realised when thinking back that I was sat quite low when sketching the statue, and didn’t take this into account when studying the angles of her body. While this might have been fine for a general still life study, it might have been better for me to choose a more level eyed pose to study weight distribution from. Good to know for future studies like this!

Side step reference, plan, and blocking animation:

Feedback from George:

  • At start feet should be rotated out a bit more
  • Ball should lean more on the screen right leg as it raises screen left leg, otherwise it’s off balance
  • Don’t shift the weight of the ball so soon into the side step
  • Let the heel touch down first
  • Overshoot the body a little as the screen right foot is almost done with side step
  • Drag the screen left foot rather than lift it when it does the little corrective step
  • Body isn’t following through at points, its moving at the same time as the feet instead of lagging slightly
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Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language Term 1

Week 6: Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

This week we looked at the importance of Mise-en-Scène, and how powerful just the staging of a scene can be in conveying a lot of information to the viewer. I myself love dissecting cinema to what may seem its unimportant features, so this lecture was very enjoyable to me and gave me new language to use when analysing such content. I also was reminded of a few breakdowns of recent cinema and tv series that were met with negative reviews, and how a common question when breaking down specific scenes and aspects was “Why is this even there?”. While I’m sure it isn’t a new thing by any means, it is interesting that, even to many on a subconscious level, the lack of thought put into the Mise-en-Scène can convey a messy and empty narrative.

One of the series I’m considering researching, Andor (2022) is often compared with its close predecessor in the Disney+ Star Wars series collection, Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022). While many different people have compared the two in many different ways, the key theme everyone seems to land on is that Andor goes above and beyond with its Mise-en-Scène. Every element of every shot feels deliberate and immaculately crafted to convey the vast complexities of the story without needing to hand feed the viewer the information on a metaphorical platter. Obi-Wan Kenobi on the other hand is heavily criticised both for its hand feeding narrative style, and the senseless elements to most if not all of the scenes, both pulling the viewer from any potential immersion in the story.

A wonderful, and quite simple in how specific it is, example of this I found was in a YouTube video I watched a while ago by ‘Master Samwise’, who does commentary on many different series and movies. In his video titled ‘Andor vs Obi-Wan Kenobi – A Scene Comparison (Part 1: Action)’, he breaks down the reasons why the two fighting scenes from both series feel so different. From Andor, he focuses on a scene from episode 6. He breaks down how every small movement during the fight from all characters, whether the main character or background characters we’ve never met, makes perfect sense for how these characters would act in such a perilous situation. There was a specific moment that, when rewatching the video after this weeks lecture, struck me as astounding Mise-en-Scène. In a shot that doesn’t hold a huge weight in such a hectic scene, one of the characters draws back into cover, there’s a short pause, and then a blaster shot hit where he was out of cover previously. This attention to detail is what subconsciously mounts in the viewer’s mind, growing into anticipation and suspense, because we see all of these small details that tell us this is a real fight with real consequences. We see a character realistically, with his background, reacting to a threat as if it is such. I don’t believe the creator of the video mentions it at any point, but I can almost envision the creators of Andor literally mapping this scene out for every single character we see on screen, and planning their movements according to how a fight like the one we’re shown would realistically go down. They had some characters with a backstory and personalities, and each acted within those confines, for some leading to their deaths.

While I don’t think it would be fair to say Obi-Wan Kenobi didn’t have such planning, it either wasn’t done equally to all characters shown on screen (leaving a feeling of “untouchable main character”), or it wasn’t done effectively. I can also see the potential that the lack of attention to the background characters was purposeful in an attempt to make the main characters look cool and make the viewer feel excited, an attempt at, as the video creator perfectly labels it, sceptical. Yet by not giving those enemy character’s actions weight, as Andor does so well in this scene and across the series, it doesn’t give the payoff they might have been hoping for in Obi-Wan Kenobi for many members of it’s audience.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Immersion Term 1

Week 6: Immersion

In Class Work:

This week we looked at rigging in UE5. While I’m planning on prebuilt rigs for Maya and then importing the animation into UE5, this lesson was still super helpful for if I want to make my own rigs for UE5 for future projects, which is something I’d like to try in a future project.

I have done rigging in Maya before, and quickly picked up how similar the general process is to the UE5 rigging process, just with a different interface, names, and (from what I understood) being more node-based.

Project Progression:

As previously planned, I edited my sketches into a rough animatic. This also includes all shots for my initial idea, as I wanted to have the full version so that if I do have time to add more shots the layout is already there to work from. I also started filming reference for the key shots where there will be character animation. In some of the shots (mostly those focused on the background characters after the transition to the creepy, bizarre vibe), the characters will be static and staring at the camera, so those won’t need reference. If I have time, I will probably add some camera animation in along with the 2D Animated eyes to give the shot some interest in place of character animation.

Since I’m still quite new to UE5, I wanted to quickly test how easy it would be to replace one of the textures in the subway file with my own. I had the sketch from my storyboard for a rough idea of how I wanted the final shot to look, so I went with replacing the text on the scrolling screen as a test since, if successful, this could also be something I keep for the final render.

Reference sketch:

First I located the material for the screen, then the node for the text texture. I exported the text texture, opened it in Photoshop, and replicated the texture by searching for a similar font (I settled on ‘Dogica’ by Roberto Mocci (link), and manually added the semi-transparent grid on top of the letters.

Original:

My replica:

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Animation Term 1

Week 5: Animation

This week we got feedback on our splined side step animation, and learnt the importance of weight distribution balance in preparation for doing our side step animation. To help us learn how to balance weight distribution, we will be posing the Bony rig using our pose sketches as reference. In general, learning weight distribution is going to be key for any weight shift animations we do in the future.

Ball with Tail Spline Feedback:

Feedback from George:

  • Keep tail scrunched up for longer, until frame where ball jumped up, then have tail whip down within 2 frames
  • Tail still needs pulling up to follow the curve of the ball/itself more
  • Make tail whip after landing quicker and add secondary flick in also

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Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language Term 1

Week 5: Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

Social and Political Commentary Through Animation

This week we examined how animation has been used as commentary on social and political topics. Within these topics, messages can be delivered through moving image as things such as propaganda, subliminal messaging, documentaries, personal experiences, etc.

Activity

Our task for this week: 

Research and present an argument for an animated work you consider tackles any issues of equality, diversity or social injustice (150-200 words)

I decided to do this research on the Netflix series Arcane. The article by Perdhana and Kusuma (2023) highlights how various characters in Arcane struggle, benefit from, and work through social injustice, by closely examining various frames from the episodes. Yet I realised quickly that the, arguably, main two characters of Arcane weren’t discussed directly at all, Vi and Jinx. Within the story, they are the two characters immediately introduced as victims of the social injustice against the lower class of Piltover, suffering the loss of their parents and forever traumatised. They continue to suffer within the system of social injustice throughout the story. While every other character is explored through how they interact with the inequality, many even enforcing it for their own benefit, Vi and Jinx’s stories are the most profound because they are the most realistic depictions of victims of the system throughout the series. They care not for the system they are victims of. They show little interest in fighting against it or using it for their own benefit. Vi wants to save her sister and regain some of her lost childhood. Jinx in the first season wants to find reassurance that she isn’t broken, and in the second wants to walk away from her broken self. Even when pushed to interact with the social injustice they live in, they either reject it or merely go along with what the narrative forces them into.

Perdhana, P.D, Kusuma, A.S. (2023) ‘Representation of Social Inequality in the Netflix Series Arcane (Semiotic Analysis of Roland Barthes Model)’, Proceeding ISETH (International Summit on Science, Technology, and Humanity), pp. 1654–1668. Available at: https://proceedings.ums.ac.id/iseth/article/view/4558.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Immersion Term 1

Week 5: Immersion

In Class Work:

This week Serra showed us some physics in UE5. We learnt how to make objects fracture upon impact, and how to constrain objects.

Project Progression

I bought the Apollo and Artemis rigs and, following the creators instructions, used a wrap deformer to attach the provided outfit to the rig. I’m planning on using Apollo for the main character, and I can use Artemis for one of the background characters. I have other rigs I would be happy with as the other background characters. I did however see on the Discord server for the Apollo and Artemis rigs that the creator, Ramon Arango, is going to be releasing six more rigs soon that look really cool. Depending on the timing of the release and the cost, I might buy these as well, both for the background characters on this project and for future projects.

I also finished my storyboard, and next will be taking pictures of the sketches and editing them into an animatic. I found music I like (link), and while I’m not certain I will use it for the final edit (mostly due to timing, but I could always edit the music also), I can at least use it as a stand-in for now.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Animation Term 1

Week 4: Animation

This week we were shown how to spline our blocked animation, including cleaning up both the general animation and the animation curves with the curve editor.

Ball with Tail Blocking Feedback:

I uploaded my shot plan and blocking animation to syncsketch.

Feedback from George:

  • Tail should scrunch up more before jump
  • Remove rotation of ball other than for the stretch (on jump off and just before landing, landing shouldn’t have rotation) so the movement of the ball is more clear
  • Keep making sure the tail is following the arc of the ball and itself
  • Keep checking the end of the tail isn’t getting stuck between frames
  • Add more squash on landing
  • Give the tail more of a punchy whip movement on landing before it slowly settles
Categories
Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language Term 1

Week 4: Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

This week we looked at ‘auteurs’, a descriptor developed by critics within the study of cinema. We learnt the history of the term, and how it considers the wider range of people involved in the production process when critiquing cinema rather than one singular member. However it can still be reduced to a small part of the production process, or even a single person who pushes and ties together the specific theme(s). On the other end of the scale, we could argue huge entities such as Disney are auteurs.

I would argue that Walt Disney himself was an auteur because of his attention to detail and desire to ensure every part of the production process met his standards. I found this blog post by Barry L. Linetsky, which spoke of some interesting insight into how much Disney oversaw and managed each creative decision on his films, ensuring they were the creative, magical artforms that are still beloved to this day. While the blog post also notes he withdrew from his on the floor approach to management in later years, I would also argue by then his vision had been poured so deeply into the foundations of the Disney company that, even with a more hands off approach, his earlier efforts meant his vision was still being meticulously crafted to his intentions. And therefore, I would also argue that even after Walt Disney’s death, the corporation still carries that intention.

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3D Computer Animation Fundamentals Immersion Term 1

Week 4: Immersion

In Class Work:

Last week we had to cut the lesson short a bit, so this week we finished off looking at sequencers, particularly with their uses and how to organise them.

We then moved onto materials, looking at how to make them, and how to make material instances. With materials, it is easy to make changes but can get a bit annoying when you might want to see those changes happening live in the viewport. With material instances, as long as the material it is created from is set up correctly, you can change the parameters live and it also doesn’t change the base material, making it easy to undo/reset parameters.

Serra also showed us how normal maps work, and how they can add depth and detail to objects without changing the geometry or needing to use high resolution assets.

Finally, we learnt how to blend materials together. I realised this will be very useful to achieve the aesthetic look I was hoping for (as shown on my Pinterest board screenshots from Week 2), because combining and laying different materials will probably be more successful to achieve the mixed media, textile look of the references I was inspired by.

Project Progression:

Finding rigs:

I didn’t get a response from Hernan Ares regarding his ‘Zio’ rig, so I started looking for alternative rigs. I’m considering buying the Artemis and Apollo rigs created by Ramon Arango, who has a strong background and experience in rigging and animation. While I really like the more unique facial features on these rigs and the level of technical detail, the tracksuit outfits that come with the rigs (and need to be deform wrapped to the skin geo) are a bit too plain for my taste. I’m planning on having a detailed environment with interesting materials, so without modification the tracksuits would stand out against the louder backdrop.

Because the rigs are more on the premium side, I want to wait another week or so before buying in case I find something else. While I would be happy to spend the money for them since they will come in useful a lot in future projects also, I don’t want to buy rigs I don’t need and that could be far more complex/detailed than is necessary for this project if there are better options.

Storyboard/animatic:

I began by quickly sketching a storyboard to visualise my ideas. To maintain momentum, I prioritised speed over detail, knowing I could refine the sketches later. I’m planning to make an animatic later by photographing the storyboard, saving time on digital redrawing.

Some shots were difficult to sketch, so I imported the subway train level from UE5 to Maya, and used the ‘Body Mechanics Rigs’ (created by Joe Daniels) as placeholder characters. This let me experiment with different camera angles and character positioning a bit before adding a shot to my sketches.

I realised early on that my project’s initial scope was too much to complete in the time we have, so I decided to sketch out all my desired shots, then selected the minimum number of shots needed to convey my idea and aesthetic to move forward with. This approach allows me to prioritise the essential elements, complete the project efficiently, and potentially add back more complex shots later if I have the time to do so.

Organisation method:

To help me track all of this and to keep myself as organised as possible, I made a Google Sheet for the project that I’m planning to have several pages for, each with their own purpose to help my workflow.